For patients diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC), either incidentally or nonincidentally, and who are diagnosed symptomatically and have a family history of HC have an almost five-fold risk of cardiovascular death, according to a study published May 15 in the American Journal of Cardiology.

During the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) 2010 conference in Denver, Hansen Medical announced that the FDA had granted conditional investigational device exemption (IDE) approval, authorizing a clinical trial to investigate use of the Sensei X robotic catheter system and the Artisan control catheter for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF).

The creation of cost-effective diagnostic approaches including a greater involvement of cardiovascular services in the evaluation of unexplained falls should be considered given the significant magnitude of the problem, based on a Utah case study of patients presenting with faint or fall that was featured May 13 at the 2010 annual conference of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) in Denver.

An entirely subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD) consistently detected and converted ventricular fibrillation induced during electrophysiological testing, and the device successfully detected and treated all 12 episodes of spontaneous, sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmia, according to small, nonrandomized studies published online May 12 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Video: HRS President Dr. Richard L. Pages response to the NEJM study.

The FDA has sent a warning letter to the atrial fibrillation (AF) division of St. Jude Medical for improperly promoting and marketing its Epicor LP cardiac ablation system and the Epicor UltraCinch LP ablation device in the U.S.

DENVERThe six-week-old healthcare reform legislation aroused a heated debate between former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., NPR journalist Juan Williams and physicians Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, and Richard I. Fogel, MD, who discussed government involvement and the questions that remain about quality measures within clinical practice, during the opening plenary session of the 31st annual conference of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) on May 13.

DENVERRegarding outcomes in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), Caucasians had fewer hospital readmissions and African-Americans had a lower mortality rate, reported Wisconsin researchers during a poster study presentation last week at the 31st annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS).

The Health IT Standards Committee is charged with identifying and mapping the standards that will enable a functional Nationwide Health Information Network. This is a challenging mission, but its a crucial piece of a 21st century approach to medicine, Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, chairman of the ONCs Health IT Standards Committee and president of clinical services and chief medical officer of Hospital Corporation of America, based in Nashville, Tenn., recently told CMIO.